Although the transistors in many respects the vacuum tube, but transistors generate considerable heat, which can potentially damage the computer's internal parts. Quartz stone (quartz rock) to eliminate this problem. Jack Kilby, an engineer at Texas Instruments, developed the integrated circuit (IC: integrated circuit) in 1958. IC combined three electronic components in a small silicon disc made of quartz sand. Scientists later managed to fit more components into a single chip called a semiconductor. As a result, computers became ever smaller as the components can be squeezed onto the chip. Other third-generation development is the use of the operating system that allows the machine to run many different programs at once with a central program that monitored and coordinated the computer's memory.

Demand for small computers (small-computer) for business applications and science / research is very large so that not a few computer makers only produce small-alone computer. Small-computer is better known as minicomputers. Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) and Data General Corporation (DGC) became the first leading role in the sale and manufacture of these minicomputers.